Hug and Kiss ~ For Domestic Violence Month

I use to think that it was apart of life while growing up.
He would swing on her, and miss or swing on her, and connect his fist…
Then it would be followed up with an “I’m sorry” a hug and a kiss
And she’d forgive him.

I witnessed in an instance a situation that had trembling, crying and sweating.
As I saw him raise his hands to her over and over again so unlovingly.
It seemed like he was always so angry.
Then he would follow-up with an “I’m sorry”, a hug and kiss.
And she’d forgive him.

I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of yelling and screaming
Mixed with begging and pleading, glass breaking and doors slamming. For a moment it was silence and then I heard the heavy sobbing and breathing. I thought it was me, but it was her I was hearing.
Then he would follow-up with an “I’m sorry, a hug and kiss.
And she’d forgive him.

The image I had seen still sticks with me. I woke that same morning to see her bruised up face and body and she tried to hide from me. She told me that her and him were just play fighting and the last week she said she ran into the door; being clumsy. At the time I believed the lie, because I didn’t want to think he would do such a thing.
It was always followed by an “I’m sorry,” a hug and a kiss.
And she’d forgive him.

This was a day that I would never forget. The night was spent with me tossing and turning.
I kept hearing more yelling, screaming, begging, pleading.
The glass breaking.
The walls shaking
The urgency I’m hearing in her voice.
The bass in his echoing the halls…
One last LOUD THUMP.. and then nothing at all.

The neighbors heard the commotion and made a phone call.
The house was surrounded by red and blue lights.
The men in uniforms cuffed him and dragged him from my sight while the next door neighbor hugged me tight.
I saw her one last time before she was pronounced DOA
The men then began to take her away.
I had one last thing I had to say.
I said to her “I’m sorry,” and I followed it with a hug and a kiss.